Ahead of the Seattle Sounders’ first leg in the Western Conference Championship against the Colorado Rapids on Tuesday night (7 p.m. PT; FS1, KIRO Radio 97.3 FM, El Rey 1360AM), SoundersFC.com caught up with Fox Sports analyst Alexi Lalas to discuss the match and his expectations for the series.
SOUNDERSFC.COM: What are your initial thoughts on the match?
LALAS: Seattle is riding high right now in this incredible rarified air, both in terms of how they got there and where they are in this quest for an MLS Cup. I’m saying they’re the favorite. I know Colorado has been very good, but you can’t discount the incredible confidence and run that this Seattle team has been on. Whatever the obstacle, they’ve overcome it.
It should be a very different matchup [than FC Dallas] because Colorado has a priority on defense. It doesn’t score a lot of goals, but doesn’t let in a lot of goals in. They will grind you down.
SOUNDERSFC.COM: What are your thoughts on Nicolas Lodeiro being named MLS Newcomer of the Year?
LALAS: He has been everything you could possibly want from a Designated Player and a midseason arrival, and he’s fundamentally changed the way this team plays. But now you’re the Seattle that we all know and love/hate because the expectations are that you have to go out and win an MLS Cup.
SOUNDERSFC.COM: How does Seattle break down this stingy Rapids defense?
LALAS: You look to your payers like [defensive midfielder Osvaldo Alonso], because I think you’re going to get a lot of the ball. You’re going to be faced with a congested and condensed type of defensive posture from a Colorado team that is very comfortable. As Alonso is circulating the ball, finding a guy like Lodeiro in those pockets and those seams who can then pry open a very congested defensive-oriented type of team is huge.
If a guy like [midfielder Andreas Ivanschitz] plays, and I think they really missed him to provide something different than just everything going through Lodeiro, I think that’s huge. The question is, does he play and how much does he play? And of course the same question is for Jordan Morris. I think defensively you’re going to be tested less than previous opponents, but you still have to make sure that you come up big when you need to.
SOUNDERSFC.COM: How much of a loss will injured goalkeeper Tim Howard be for the Rapids?
LALAS: You’re looking to try to measure leadership. They were fine with Zac MacMath, then Tim Howard comes in and takes them to a whole other level. The numbers are there, but how much did Tim Howard affect the confidence, that already was high, of that team? I don’t know because I’m not in there. So did some of that confidence dissipate with Tim Howard’s injury? While they may have been confident playing well with MacMath, the level of confidence they played with when Tim Howard came in enabled them to do things that they didn’t do with MacMath in goal, individually and collectively. Now do they have to curtail that or revert back to a [different] way of playing?
I think in the back of their minds they would all rather have Tim Howard, but they at least have a track record [of success] to fall back on with MacMath, I think that’s good. He’s going to have to stand on his head throughout this series.
SOUNDERSFC.COM: Who is the biggest X-factor for each team?
LALAS: For Colorado, it’s [forward Sebastien Le Toux] and the ability to break on that counter, through Le Toux and his speed. This neck of the woods knows about who he is and what he is, but he is dangerous. If they are able to win the ball and head out on that break…it could be problematic for Seattle.
From a Seattle standpoint, I think Tyrone Mears is undervalued and underappreciated in terms of his consistency. I think he’s really good at understanding what his limitations are and what his strengths are and playing to them consistently. I think Mears, and the same for Joevin Jones, needs to be really attentive to the situation especially when it comes to the counterattack and really covering the off side when the ball is on the other side and making sure they win their 1-v-1 battles, which I think Tyrone Mears did incredibly well against Dallas.
